PHOENIX — A man is facing charges for allegedly causing the death of his girlfriend's one-year-old child.
At about 11 p.m. on February 1, Phoenix Fire crews were called to a home near Central and Baseline Road for reports of an injured child.
While medics rushed the child to the hospital they contacted the Phoenix Police Department about the situation.
While at the hospital, a doctor reported the child had injuries to the head, lip, had bruising to the left cheek, back, and abdomen and was not expected to survive. He died at the hospital the following day.
Police interviewed the child’s grandmother, who called 911, court documents revealed.
The grandmother reportedly told detectives her daughter arrived at her house that night and the child was unresponsive. The grandmother also stated she watched the child earlier that day and did not notice any visible injuries before he left.
After being picked up from the grandmother’s house, the mother went to work at about 5:30 p.m. and left the child in the care of her live-in boyfriend, Diego Garcia.
According to court documents, Garcia was at their residence along with his five-year-old child.
The mother got a phone call from Garcia at about 9 p.m. saying the children were playing and the victim hit his head which caused bleeding to his lip.
When the mother got home at about 10:30 p.m. her child was asleep and would not wake up. She also noticed injuries to his lip and a bump on the head. The mother told detectives that’s when she took the child to his grandmother’s home and asked her to call 911.
A police report states the mother and Garcia had been dating for about a month and he was the only adult in care and custody of the victim during the time when the injuries occurred.
The following day, Garcia was taken into police custody where authorities say he gave multiple accounts of what happened, which were not consistent with the child’s injuries.
He was arrested and is facing charges of child abuse and first-degree murder.
The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner is performing an autopsy.
